Will SETI taste like spam?

You may be aware of the SETI project - Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. A number of efforts have been organized to detect signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. The general approach of most SETI efforts is to survey the sky for for evidence of transmissions from a civilization on some distant planet. A certain form, known as Active SETI or METI (Messages to Extraterrestrial Intelligence) consists of sending signals into space in the hope that they will be detected by an extraterrestrial intelligence. Discussions of this approach consider that a response may be altruistic, benign, or malevolent.

Let's consider this possibility. Extraterrestrial life detects our signals and responds. If they react like us humans do, pretty soon we will be overrun with extraterrestrial messages offering various devices for penis enlargement. We will receive requests to supply personal banking information so that the First Galactic Bank of Arcturus can verify our records. We will receive requests soliciting our assistance in moving large amounts of money trapped in an account held by a wealthy alien in the Sirius sector.

Will gmail be able to handle the intergalactic spam problem?

A New Year's revolution

January is a time to make life changing decisions. January is a time to look at life from a larger perspective, not from a day to day "gotta do the laundry and get groceries" operational perspective, but a larger perspective like "what do I want to accomplish with the next 12 months". A time to ask what part of my life have I been trying persistently to make better and it just isn't working and I don't want to try any more.

ODO bloated

I got my current computer four, maybe five, years ago. That makes it a senior citizen, about eighty years old in human years. It's sill strong and healthy, despite its age.

I named this computer ODO, after the shape shifting character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Knowing how I like to tinker with technology, I anticipated that I would take this machine through various upgrades, several stages of evolution throughout its life cycle. And I have tinkered with its hardware and software configurations over the years.

Over the course of four years the software side has become bloated. I've downloaded and installed various trial pieces of software, some of which I've kept and some I discarded. It's time to clean up.